Hello everybody this is a revamp of my first fanfiction Teen Titans: A Titan from Outta This World. For those who are reading this for the first time: Welcome.
For returning fans: Welcome back.
Some of you guys told me that you like a few things about my story and what you didn't like so I went back and re-read to see if any of the compliments or complaints had any merit.
Long story short, you were right I strayed too far away from my original story and created a mess. So I've decided to go back and redo a lot of things. While some things will remain the same there will be a few minor and major changes. Hopefully, it will be a more pleasant experience.
And before you say it, yes the angst will be turned down a lot. Previously I was afraid of creating a GarySue/OP character, so I thought that the best way to counter this was by throwing as many problems at the OC and whatnot in order not to do so. This of course inadvertently created a bad character and I'm sorry about that. Please excuse my lack of experience in designing characters.
Now though I have a bit more experience in character creation and story writing so hopefully this will be much better.
I haven't really worked on the other chapters so it may be a while before an update.
I also want to bring in more fan interaction so I'll be adding fan review responses to the chapters. I'll only be answering appropriate questions/comments.
Without further ado...
Tick, Tick, Tick
2:30
Seth's dark green eyes watched the clock as the seconds went by, waiting for the day to end, for the bell to ring to signal the end of the day. With a huff, he blew a strand of long hair black hair out of his face, only for it to flick back into place.
Summer was approaching and that meant work. Whether that was working out, job, or helping out around the house. No time for the beach, amusement park, or a trip across the country. Just work.
Seth's green eyes looked at the clock again and thought, 'Well maybe I'll get a tan. Get some color on this pale skin of mine.'
2:35
A mechanical bell buzzes throughout the dull classroom. With a flurry of movement, Seth joined the mass of students that hurriedly vacated the room and out of the building. As he exited the building he slightly winced his eyes as the bright sun hit his face. The humidity thickened the air and made it slightly harder to breathe.
As he walked Seth wondered if he had the time to work out before finding a place to read a book he got from an antic store. A flutter of movement caught the corner of his eye and he turned to see three people at the side of the school building. He turned his head to see two macho jocks roughing up a small geeky boy.
Seth let out a sigh at the cliche moment. Seriously, jocks picking on a nerd, but then again things become a cliche for a reason. Seth watched as the jocks Tim and David pushed Melvin, the nerd, around, giggling all the while. Tim and David were two blonde-haired boys that were on the football team.
"Enough," Seth said out loud.
David and Tim stopped, they turned in unison towards Seth. David's green eyes widened as he looked upon the interloper. "Dude, it's Seth," David nodded his head towards Seth.
Tim's blue eyes lazily rolled his eyes, "So what," he said with a nonchalant shrug.
"You heard that he tried to shoot up the school," David said in a whisper, panic obvious in his tone.
Seth let out a smile, 'Glad that rumor still has weight, but a bit pathetic that they still believe the damn thing,' he thought.
Tim didn't seem to fall in that category as he rolled his eyes and snorted, "Please this pussy wasn't going to do anything."
This time Seth let out a snort, "Surprised that you were able to figure that out with that single brain cell of yours."
With a snarl, Tim charges with his fist pulled back. Seth moves inside Tim's range and catches the teen off guard. Using this slight distraction Seth punches upwards to the jaw and goes to punch the stomach when he gets hit in the cheek.
Seth's ears are ringing and David comes over to punch him in the chest and is knocked to the ground. He looks up and sees David above him about to stomp on him. Seth reaches out and grabs the foot and flings it to the side. Off-balance David begins to fall as he does so Seth brings his fist upright to the groin.
David lets out a high pitch screech just before he collapses onto the ground and rolls over. Seth gets to his feet just in time to get snagged by Tim as he charges at Seth. Tim then tackles and pins Seth to the wall.
Seth uses his elbows to drive at different parts of Tim's back as he is getting hit in the stomach and ribs. Tim recovers from his punches on Seth and tries to maintain his hold, but Seth uses that to slam a fist into his spine. A spike of pain runs down Tim's back and for a moment he freezes. The disorientation gives Seth the chance to grab Tim's head and slam it into the wall. With a shudder Tim's body collapses, his hands weakly grasping at Seth.
Seth shoves the hands off of him and he spits on Tim's body before he turns to the nerd and picks up his things. Seth stuck his hands into his pockets and began to walk away from the scene, "Learn to fight for yourself," he said as he passed Melvin, "no one is going to do it for you for the rest of your life."
"Thank you…" the boy mumbled back.
Seth just gave a wave backward as he walked away.
Outside he was monotone, but inwardly he soared. He hoped that he inspired that boy to get better. For that is the kind of person he wants to be. With elated feelings, he goes to a park and finds a tree that was as far away from the general populace as possible. When he does he pulls out the book and gives it a pass.
Black as the night the book had gold-plated metal at each of the corners. As Seth shifted the book he noticed that at a certain angle lines began to shine. After a while, Seth was able to figure out that there was a pentagram on its cover with some kind of strange scripture. Besides that, there wasn't a title nor any other wording that would tell what the book was about. Even the store clerk didn't know what the book was about, he didn't even know when he got it as he didn't remember how he got it. It was enough to snag his interest and purchase the book.
Seth looked up and saw a couple of boys playing what looked like cops and robbers, except one of them charged at one of the boys as if he was flying like Superman. A small smile graced his lips as he watched the boys pretend to be superheroes. It reminded him of when he was that young and wanted to be just like those heroes on TV. He was more of a Batman kind of person as he grew up on the old Batman TV series. He remembered when he saw a show called the Teen Titans that had Robin in it. He knew the character and decided to give it a shot just because of that. After the first episode, he was hooked. It didn't take him long for him to be a fan and lament the fact that there wasn't a comic book store in his small southern town. So he worked on filling that void that was left.
Unfortunately back then he only had access to dial-up internet and limited internet access so when he went to look up information on the DC universe to fill in any missing information it was...well, lacking. That and the different convoluted timelines and multiverse made it hard to find correct or canon information on the characters and their adventures, particularly from the Teen Titans universe. You see the show was eventually canceled thanks to the decline in toy sales and the supposed aged-out audience. Supposedly there was a comic adaptation, but again nowhere to buy them. So he couldn't find out if any of that was true.
Perhaps it was for the best after all if what he heard correctly then when Trigon came he destroys Starfire's homeworld Tamaran and also the fact that Raven dies when she becomes the key to the door for Trigon to enter. Of course, that didn't happen in the show or perhaps it wasn't shown. They did show that Trigon destroyed Azarath so maybe…
Seth shook his head to return to the here and the now. Heros only exist in fantasy after all.
With his attention back to the book Seth contemplated what he should do with the book. He went to open the book but stopped, his hand frozen just a sickly feeling grasped his heart.
'What's wrong with me, it is just a book.'
He opened the book right down the middle. Inside he found that the book was written in a language that he didn't know. In his mind, something begins to whisper. He ignores it and goes to turn a page when his finger is cut. Seth pulls his finger back to see that his finger was bleeding profusely.
"Goddamn it," Seth cursed as he clenched the cut with his other hand and looked at his book. He watched in amazement as the blood flowed down from the book towards the center page. There it split apart going towards each corner.
"Ooff," a silky voice that was dipped in sin said, "That is a nasty piece of work there."
Seth looks up to see a sharp-dressed man looking at him. He was dressed in a three-piece black suit with a white shirt and black tie. He was normal-looking, blonde hair slicked back except for a clump that hung just over his left eye. His purely white smile promised the world yet his bright blue eyes betrayed him. The man's handsome square jaw face was only marred by a single scare that ran from above his right eye all the way to his left cheek. His voice dipped in sin spoke in a deep baritone that caused Seth to become flushed. "Out of all the spells to activate it was that one," the man tisked, "Such a shame."
Seth looked up at the man and got up.
Or at least tried to. The book in his lap became heavy and inhibited him from moving. With wide eyes, he looked at the man and asked breathlessly, "Who are you?"
The man just chuckled. "You humans have many names for me, Fallen Star, Murderer, Leviathan, Lawless, Father of Lies, Deceiver, but you know me as Lucifer," the man bowed, "at your service."
Seth just snorted, "Right Satan," he rolled his eyes, "Look Georgia is to the east."
The man, Lucifer, snorted this time, "That is a good song although it is a bit irritating that you humans always think that I am after your soul," Lucifer rolled his eyes. Seth narrowed his eyes at this...Lucifer, the guy was talking like he wasn't human and he had an aura that made his insides crawl. Obviously, this guy wasn't right in the head and he needed to get out of here, but this damn book wouldn't budge.
"Yes, that book won't move until the spell is complete," Lucifer said as he smirked at the human that was pinned beneath the book next to a tree. The fallen angel wondered if this was ironic or not. "It's irritating that you humans always assume that when I am involved with a situation it is because I am trying to trick you into sin."
Seth began to feel a burning sensation on his fingertips and as he looked at the cut he saw that they were cherry red and it slowly worked his way down his finger, his other hand following suit.
"And yet it is not I that tricks you into sin, no you do that to yourselves without my intervention. No, my job was just to punish your souls. Although your own curiosity does you in as well, honestly who just opens a demonic-cron."
Hyperventilating Seth began to rub his hands into the ground to rub out the poison that was causing this burning sensation, but it only made it worse now his hands felt as if they were on fire.
"Ba!" Lucifer spat as he continued to rant unperturbed by Seth's situation, "You question how things are done once and you are cast out forever. Then you have your 'precious' creations treat you like you were this great villain." The devil closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "But that is neither here nor there."
Seth watched as his hands began to bubble as the fire traveled up his arms. Grunts of pain came in between gaps as he sat there, his arms taut.
"Perhaps this could work in my favor," Lucifer muttered slowly as a smile began to form.
"What's happening to me?" Seth cried out
"Well my dear human," Lucifer said pointing at Seth's arms, "your turning into a demon, a hell hound to be precise, or at least a variant of it," Lucifer shrugged, "It varies on which kind so this will be interesting to see." Lucifer rested a hand on his hip as a foot came up and closed the book. He then lightly kicked it to the side so that it fell to the side.
"STOP IT PLEASE!" Seth screamed in pain as his skin began to fall off in clumps, the flesh crackled and burned. Flames of red and blue consumed his flesh leaving only pure white bone.
With a foot, Lucifer pushed Seth until he was on his back holding up inflamed arms as he yelled out in pain. Fortunately, Lucifer sealed off the area before confronting the doomed human. So no one knew what was going on, hell as far as the world knew Seth just disappeared.
"I'll tell you what," Lucifer said as he grabbed Seth's bony hands and clenched them. Black as night strings began to form as flesh was remade and sown together. Dark red scales that shined with a blue tint began to form over flesh except for an indent that forms a hole the size of a small fist and a line down the length of the arms. Soon a yellow jelly-like substance began to fill those holes. His fingers' tips began to sharpen as the gel substance grew under his fingers.
"Let's make a deal," Lucifer said as his smile grew wider, "I want you to get rid of a bit of nuisance for me, if you do that then I'll remove the curse and let you live out the rest of your miserable little existence."
"Who-wha," Seth rasped out his voice shot with the blood-curdling screams.
Lucifer leaned forward as the scales finished forming on Seth's shoulders, "I want you to kill Trigon for me."
Seth's eyes widened as they slowly turned to blood red, "What?"
Lucifer released Seth's arms so he could shrug his shoulders, "That upstart is starting to disrupt the balance back home in Hell, honestly kids these days," he said with a roll of his eyes, "You see while I could care less about Hell's politics or the matters of mortals, but I've come to enjoy my life running a nightclub, ah the fun I have," Lucifer looked at the human beneath him with narrowed eyes, "And having some runt of a demon, not even a real demon honestly, taken over the universe that I call home puts a little damper on that life."
The devil looked down at the human and smiled, showing off his sharp teeth, "So do we have a deal…?"
All Seth could do was guggle as his body began to spasm again. "Ye…," he got out before a spew of red goo spat out of his lips.
Lucifer held out his hand, "A simple shake will suffice," the devil said.
Seth reached out fighting the pain to grasp the devil's hand.
"Enough," a sharp feminine voice yelled out.
Lucifer backed away from the human just as a white fluffy blob jumped between him and his prey. The fallen angel raised an eyebrow, "My, my what a surprise," he said resting his hands in his pockets, "And what is one of Inari's pets doing here of all places?"
The fluff unfurled itself to a voluptuous woman dressed in blue jeans and a white v-shirt. Her face was thin and narrow just like the slits of her blue eyes. The woman's sharp teeth bared at the devil. A fluffy white tail swished behind her before it split into four more tails. On top of her head rested a pair of long furry ears. "I am Akari, servant of my mistress Amaterasu," the fox woman growled as she flinched her fingers where long nails crept out, "And I'm here to stop you."
Amused Lucifer said, "Oh?"
Akari began to crouch, "You have put this world and ours in danger with your actions," she spat.
Lucifer smirked, "And, pray tell, have I done?"
"You," Akari let out a gasp of air as her hair began to stand on end, "have tipped the balance by merging our universe with the source universe."
The devil let out a sigh as he put his hands in his pocket. "I have done no such thing," he said, "I was merely here to collect that," he pointed at the book. "It's not my fault that this stupid mortal got his hands on it and opened it."
Seth let out a groan of pain as his body shuddered.
"Now if you don't mind," Lucifer said as a pair of black wings burst from his back, "I have a deal to…"
The fallen angel wings swooshed in front of him and protected him from the ball of flames. He flicked his wings to clear the smoke and a flash of anger morphed on his face. Lucifer tsked as the smoke cleared to reveal that both the fox girl and the boy were gone. The grimoire was also missing. With a sigh, Lucifer stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Well that happened," he said before he smirked, "I guess this way will be more entertaining."
Akari let out a grunt as she carried Seth on her shoulder and under her arm was the black book. She was currently limping across a grassy field in the dead of night. After she cast the fireball at the fallen angel Akari grabbed the boy and the book and transported them here.
Her blue eyes looked up to see a Victorian-style mansion. A shudder went through her body as she looked at the dark building. She didn't want to ask for help, especially from this man, but with her last spell, she had lost a considerable amount of power. It would take a while for her to regain her strength, time that Seth didn't have.
As to confirm her fears Seth let out a growl and she felt something wet soak through her clothes.
She hated to admit it but this man knows more about demonic magic than her, and he is the only one who could help the boy afterward as well.
Lead filled her feet as she climbed the stairs and came to a stop in front of a wooden door. Akari ignored the demon head door banger and kicked the door multiple times. The fox-spirit stood there and waited for a few minutes when she didn't get a response she kicked the door again, harder.
"Keep your knickers on," a raspy British accent yelled. "Fucken tosspot, who comes around in the dead of night, fucken wanker that's who.
The door opened to reveal a blonde-haired man with an unshaven face. His blue eyes were dead and covered with bags of restlessness. He wore a white button-up shirt that was wrinkled and unkempt as if he just slept in it. The same was said about his black pants. A red tie hung loosely around his neck. In his hands was a rectangle bottle full of amber liquid.
The man looked at Akira with narrowed eyes, "Who the hell are you?" He asked before he took a drink from the bottle.
"John Constantine," Akira stated with disgust written on her face, "I need your help."